COMOROS – IRRIGATION FOR FOOD SECURITY Presentation to a Gathering of Leaders of the Comorian Business Community
DEVELOPMENT FINANCING IS EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS • “MULTI-STAKEHOLDER PARTNERSHIPS AND THE RESOURCES … OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR, CIVIL SOCIETY, THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, ACADEMIA, PHILANTHROPY … AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS WILL BE IMPORTANT TO MOBILIZE AND SHARE … FINANCIAL RESOURCES…” - The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, Paragraph 10
THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAS A UNIQUE ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT FINANCING • “BY DESIGN, [MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS’] PRIVATE SECTOR OPERATIONS LEVERAGE OTHER SOURCES OF FINANCE, PARTICULARLY PRIVATE SECTOR CO-INVESTMENT. MDBS GENERALLY FINANCE ONLY A SHARE OF TOTAL PROJECT COST, MOBILIZING ADDITIONAL INVESTORS THROUGH SYNDICATIONS AND OTHER POOLED FUNDING STRUCTURES” ---From Billions to Trillions: MDB Contributions to Financing for Development, Page 5
COMOROS – AN AGRICULTURALLY DEPENDENT ECONOMY LIST OF ALL EXPORTS, 2016 (HTTPS://WWW.CIA.GOV/LIBRARY/PUBLICATIONS/THE-WORLD-FACTBOOK/GEOS/CN.HTML): VANILLA
YLANG-YLANG (PLANT EXTRACT USED IN PERFUME) CLOVES
AGRICULTURAL LAND DOMINATES THE COMORIAN LANDSCAPE… AS AT 2011, AGRICULTURAL LAND, COMPRISING ARABLE LAND, PERMANENT CROPS AND PERMANENT PASTURE, ACCOUNTED FOR 84.4% OF COMORIAN LAND USE: (HTTPS://WWW.CIA.GOV/LIBRARY/PUBLICATIONS/THE-WORLD-FACTBOOK/GEOS/CN.HTML):
Land Use
Arable land Permanent pasture Other
Permanent crops Forest
…AND YET THE COMOROS LACKS FOOD SECURITY • IMPORTS ACCOUNT FOR ROUGHLY 70% OF FOOD SUPPLY (SOURCE: CIA WORLD FACT BOOK: HTTPS://WWW.CIA.GOV/LIBRARY/PUBLICATIONS/THE-WORLD-FACTBOOK/GEOS/CN.HTML):
FOOD IMPORTS
DOMESTIC FOOD PRODUCTION
THE COMOROS IS ALSO CONFLICT AFFECTED AND FRAGILE --
SOME DETAILS FROM THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY’S WORLD FACTBOOK: (HTTPS://WWW.CIA.GOV/LIBRARY/PUBLICATIONS/THE-WORLD-FACTBOOK/GEOS/CN.HTML)
• “Since independence, Comoros has endured political instability through realized and attempted coups.” • “In 1997, the islands of Anjouan and Moheli declared independence from Comoros.” • “In 2007, Mohamed BACAR effected Anjouan's de-facto secession from the Union of Comoros, refusing to step down when Comoros' other islands held legitimate elections in July.”
THE WORLD BANK GROUP’S INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION PRIVATE SECTOR WINDOW (IDA PSW) PRIORITISES FRAGILE STATES “Complementing IDA’s public policy role in supporting private sector development, the proposed PSW is a key part of IDA’s response in supporting pioneering and responsible investments in the poorest countries, and especially in FCS [fragile and conflict affected states].” --SEE “FURTHER DETAILS ON THE PROPOSED IFC-MIGA PRIVATE SECTOR WINDOW IN IDA18” (IDA RESOURCE MOBILISATION DEPARTMENT), PARAGRAPH 8
THE IDA PSW COLLABORATES WITH PRIVATE SECTOR INTERESTS TO ACHIEVE DEVELOPMENT GOALS THE PORTFOLIO LEVEL GOALS OF THE IDA PSW ARE TO:
SCALE IFC/MIGA ENGAGEMENTS IN IDA-ONLY/FCS MARKETS FOCUS ON FCS MARKETS CROWD IN PRIVATE INVESTMENTS SUPPORT IDA18 OBJECTIVES AND SPECIAL THEMES, INCLUDING JOBS AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION --SEE “FURTHER DETAILS ON THE PROPOSED IFC-MIGA PRIVATE SECTOR WINDOW IN IDA18” (IDA RESOURCE MOBILISATION DEPARTMENT), PARAGRAPH 27
IRRIGATION IS KNOWN TO INCREASE AGRICULTURAL YIELDS… “… THE HIGHEST YIELDS THAT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM IRRIGATION ARE MORE THAN DOUBLE THE HIGHEST YIELDS THAT CAN BE OBTAINED FROM RAINFED AGRICULTURE” SOURCE: WWW.FAO.ORG CORPORATE DOCUMENT REPOSITORY. “IMPROVING IRRIGATED PRODUCTION”
… AND HAS ALREADY CONTRIBUTED TO INCREASED FOOD PRODUCTION IN THE COMOROS “THE GROWTH RATE OF FOODSTUFFS PRODUCTION EXCEEDED THE TARGET SET FOR 2011…
“… THE DEVELOPMENT OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOR AGRICULTURAL AREAS … CONTRIBUTED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SECTOR.” SOURCE: WWW.IMF.ORG. COUNTRY REPORT NO. 13/39, “UNION OF THE COMOROS: POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPER – REVIEW OF THE SECOND YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION” PP. 8-9
THERE IS MUCH ROOM FOR IRRIGATION EXPANSION IN THE COMOROS
• ACCORDING TO THE CIA WORLD FACT BOOK, THE TOTAL LAND AREA OF THE COMOROS IS 2235 SQUARE KILOMETRES, 84.4% OF WHICH IS ARABLE LAND (1186 SQUARE KILOMETRES), BUT AS AT 2012, ONLY 1.3 SQUARE KILOMETRES WAS EQUIPPED FOR IRRIGATION -- SEE: HTTPS://WWW.CIA.GOV/LIBRARY/PUBLICATIONS/THE-WORLD-FACTBOOK/GEOS/CN.HTML
YOU CAN HELP THE COMOROS IN THE DRIVE TO ATTAIN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS 1 AND 2
WE ARE READY TO RECEIVE YOUR PROPOSALS CONCERNING PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS AND LEVELS OF INVOLVEMENT. THANK YOU!